Dallas Mavericks Blog

Jet on Game 6: ‘Whatever bench comes to perform is the one that’s going to win it’

Notes and quotes from the Mavericks shootaround late this morning Portland time, afternoon Dallas time:

TYSON CHANDLER

The last time Dallas walked off this floor, it was after blowing a 23-point lead. How did it feel to come out for this morning’s shootaround? Bad memories?

“No, it’s actually good. The last time we left here, we had a bitter taste in our mouth. We had a long flight home. So this time we need to get a win so we can enjoy our flight.”

On the difficulty of close-out games: “You’ve got to come in with great focus. This team’s backs are against the wall. It’s either win or go home tonight, literally. We expect a great game from them. We expect a lot of pressure, a lot of emotion from the fans and the players. We’ve got to withstand all of that and get the W.”

JASON TERRY

On the fact that the benches have been a determining factor, especially in the games in Portland where Brandon Roy has been such a force: “I guess you could almost say the battle of the benches, whatever bench comes to perform is the one that’s going to win it. I can definitely see that playing a huge factor. So, hey, we’ve got to do our job.

“We’ve had the advantage in a lot of these games. We haven’t won all of them. But if we can get the advantage early on them tonight, we’ve got to go for the kill.”

On the zone Dallas used in Game 5, and if he’s surprised the Mavericks had waited so long to employ it: “Very surprised. Because we are the best zone team in basketball. Shocking to me, but again, we went through it. It worked for us. May have to use it again tonight if needed.”

DIRK NOWITZKI

Difficulty of close-out games: “Yeah, it’s hard. The other team really has nothing to lose. They throw everything at you. Their crowd’s going to be wild tonight. We’ve got to be ready to keep our composure. There’s going to be some stuff happen tonight, but we’ve still got to be calm and play together and execute our game plan.”

On the Mavericks’ team chemistry and cohesiveness:

“We had fun all season long, playing with each other. We’ve got a bunch of veterans who want to share the ball, who aren’t selfish. We joke around in the locker room a lot. Sometimes even too much, so we’ve got to bring our focus, but also stay loose and stay together.

“There’s going to be some stuff happen tonight where we’ve got to be on the same page and stick together through some adversity and we’ll be OK.”